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When the Lubbock City Council “kicked the can down the road” rather than address Lubbock’s homeless issue in a timely manner; North Avenue U neighborhood residents heard rumors that if true; would have had the issue residing in their backyard.
But one Lubbock city councilman decided to do some legwork on the issue and represent the resident’s interests and voice their concerns to the LISD board and administration.
The matter would normally fall under the purview of the school board member representing the area; in this case Mario Ybarra, but evidently Ybarra was not moving on the issue.
What residents had heard was that the former elementary school would be sold and the new owner would use it as a “transitional services and housing for the homeless”.
Enter Lubbock City Councilman Victor Hernandez. In addition to researching the matter, he began to gather information and disseminate it to community members.
In addition to encouraging residents to address the board at the November 15 meeting; Hernandez also sent a letter to the LISD Facilities Committee in which he stated: “The residents of the Mahon, Jackson and Guadalupe neighborhoods are opposed to such use. Although they are sensitive to the needs of the homeless, they believe that any new facilities should be located adjacent to the Salvation Army in the downtown area. It is believed that the Salvation Army site is better suited inasmuch as services (food kitchens, medical services, etc.) are already available and accessible downtown.”
Then this past Tuesday, some positive results: Hernandez sent an email to El Editor, stating that he had spoken with LISD Superintendent Karen Garza and she had informed him that the bids received for the school facility would be rejected and the issue would not even be an agenda item at the November 15 school board meeting as previously planned.
According to Garza, LISD had determined that the district could make more money by leasing the facility to Sodexho, the district’s food services contractor as opposed to selling it.
One of the bidders known as Matthew 6:33 Foundation Inc. led by Rick Canup had bid $34,200.00 while Guadalupe Economic Services had bid $10,001.01.
Whether the district would have acted on the bids if Hernandez had not gotten involved is a debatable issue.
But one thing is clear; residents from the affected neighborhoods are relieved
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